The invention relates to a vehicle seat, more particularly to an aircraft seat, including a seat bottom and a seat back disposed in a seat frame.
One such vehicle seat is described in published, non-prosecuted German Patent Application No. DE 36 38 231 A1. Both the seat back and the seat bottom of this vehicle seat mainly serving as an aircraft seat are adjustable. The seat back and seat bottom are connected to each other by a two-armed lever such that when the seat back is reclined the seat bottom is lowered in a rear section facing the seat back while remaining practically unchanged in a front section, in thus providing relatively high comfort for a seated occupant. The disadvantage of this known vehicle seat is the relatively complicated and heavyweight structure. Apart from this, when several vehicle seats are disposed abreast in rows, as is usually the case when employed as aircraft seats, cleaning is difficult due to the limited access space between the vehicle seats.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a vehicle seat particularly for aircraft that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that allows, in a relatively simple and lightweight construction, good accessibility to several vehicle seats disposed abreast and/or in rows.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a vehicle seat including a seat bottom, a seat back, a seat frame, and a pintle. The seat bottom is pivotable from a first near vertical position I into a second near horizontal position II. The seat back has a mounting clip. The seat frame holds the seat bottom and the seat back and includes legs, a cantilevered supporting beam supported by the legs, and two seat dividers. The seat dividers frame the seat back, are secured to the supporting beam, and have a respective mounting bush. The seat bottom further has supporting arms hingedly pivoting on the seat dividers in order to pivot the seat bottom. The support arm has a hole formed therein. The pintle has a first and second end section with a middle section therebetween. The first end section is rotatably mounted on the mounting bush. The second end section is mounted in the mounting clip of the seat back. The middle section is disposed in the opening of the supporting arm.
To achieve this objective with a vehicle seat, the vehicle seat has a seat bottom that is foldable about a horizontal axis from a first near vertical position into a second near horizontal position.
The vehicle seat configured in this way as a folding seat now ensures, due to the foldable seat bottom, good accessibility even when several vehicle seats are relatively closely spaced in a row. Due to the good accessibility, both simple cleaning and also enhanced comfort in taking the seat is now assured. The vehicle seat in accordance with the invention is thus especially suitable as an aircraft seat.
Thus, for a simple and lightweight construction, it is of advantage when the seat frame includes at least one cantilevered supporting beam supported by the legs of the frame and at least two seat dividers framing the seat back and secured to the supporting beam. Such a seat frame includes relatively few components to thus ensure speedy professional assembly.
It is furthermore particularly of advantage to provide the seat bottom with supporting arms hinged to pivot on the seat dividers for folding the seat bottom. The supporting arms may be provided either as separate components connected to the seat bottom or fabricated integrally with the seat bottom.
The latter solution particularly adds to the functional integration in thus facilitating assembly.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of the vehicle seat in accordance with the invention, the seat back is adjustable on the seat frame and overcomes the loading of a spring. The spring is preferably a gas spring and permits speedy, facilitated return of the adjustable seat back from the its reclined position to its starting position.
To ensure simple construction, it is of advantage to provide a pintle rotatably mounted at a first end section in a mounting bush disposed in the seat dividers and either rotatably or non-rotatably mounted at a second end section in a mounting clip disposed on the seat back. The pintle permits adjusting the seat back if the second end section is connected non-rotatably, for instance positively with the mounting clip disposed on the seat back. In this case, the seat back is pivoted by turning the pintle.
Preferably, the pintle includes, between the first end section and the second end section, a middle section configured either rotatably or non-rotatably in an opening of the supporting arms. The pintle thus additionally mounts to the seat bottom; this makes for enhanced functional integration. Similar to the mounting situation of the seat back, the seat bottom can then be pivoted by turning the pintle when the middle section is non-rotatably connected to the opening of the supporting arms.
In one advantageous aspect of the vehicle seat in accordance with the invention, the spring is disposed on a bracket, secured to the supporting beam, and connected to an adjusting lever coupled non-rotatably to the first end section of the pintle. Disposing the spring on the bracket adds to the simple configuration in thus making for more cost-effective fabrication of the supporting beam. The adjusting lever permits rotation of the pintle. Due to the adjusting lever being connected to the spring the pintle and thus the seat back can be adjusted in overcoming the loading of the spring.
It is furthermore of advantage for added comfort of the vehicle seat occupant to provide an armrest hinged to the seat dividers. Hinging the armrest ensures that when the seat bottom is folded, i.e. vertical, the access space materializing between two vehicle seats in a row is not obstructed by the armrest.
Simplified assembly of the armrest is achievable to advantage when the armrest is composed of a lower shell and upper shell surrounding the upper end of the seat dividers. The reason for this is that the armrest is thus configured two-part in enabling it to be applied to the seat dividers relatively simply.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the vehicle seat in accordance with the invention the seat bottom can be pivoted from the first position into the second position in overcoming the loading of a spring, preferably a gas spring. Such a configuration ensures that, when the vehicle seat is vacated, it is always in the folded up position. For good construction, it is of advantage to dispose the spring on the seat divider and connect it to a pivot lever that is non-rotatably coupled to the first end section of the pintle. This enables the force generated by the spring to be converted into a moment loading the pintle which pivots the seat bottom into its first position.
It has additionally been found to be of advantage to hinge a coupling rod, guided by a guide pin in a slider disposed on the armrest. This rod couples the seat bottom to the armrest in thus assuring that also the armrest is folded up when the seat bottom is located in the first position. Providing the slider makes sure that the armrest can be folded up even when the seat bottom is located in its second horizontal position.
A rugged construction of the supporting beam is configured with a round cross-section that is preferably oval.
Particularly preferred is a supporting beam having an oval cross-section that is hollow and in which the larger half-axis is oriented horizontally; the moment of resistance in such a supporting beam is favorable for normal seat loading.
A lightweight construction of the supporting beam utilizes carbon-fiber reinforced plastics to produce a relatively low density but high strength. The legs of the frame and/or the seat bottoms and/or the brackets by contrast are preferably made of aluminum, more particularly milled and secured to the supporting beam preferably by clamp fastener. Using aluminum reduces the weight while strengthening the seat frame. Clamp fasteners ensure reliable fastening of the frame legs, seat dividers and brackets to the supporting beam even when the materials involved differ.
In another preferred aspect of the vehicle seat in accordance with the invention, the seat bottom includes a seat pan preferably made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics and with a cushion of elastomeric material. While the seat pan endows the seat bottom with high strength, the cushion enhances the seating comfort of the vehicle seat occupant. By known ways, the cushion can be clad with a cover.
In accordance with a further object of the invention, to ensure good restraint of the occupant in the event of a crash, the seat pan features an upper surface provided ramped for anti-submarining the occupant, i.e. preventing the passenger from slipping forwards in a crash situation.
It is also of advantage to provide the seat pan with a stow-away serving, for example, to accommodate a life jacket when the vehicle seat is provided in an aircraft.
In another preferred construction of the vehicle seat, the seat pan includes a recess matching the contour of the supporting beam. In the recess, the seat pan rests on the supporting beam in the second position of the seat bottom. When the supporting beam has an oval cross-section, the recess is thus substantially scalloped. The seat pan resting on the supporting beam in the second position is effectively supported while the supporting beam serves as a stop for the seat pan pivoted by the supporting arms so that the seat bottom can be precisely located in its second position in relieving the load on the pintles.
In still another further embodiment of the vehicle seat, it is additionally proposed that the seat pan includes a recess for the brackets so that the brackets secured to the supporting beam do not obstruct the pivoting freedom of the seat bottom.
In conclusion, the vehicle seat in accordance with the invention includes several, preferably three, seat bottoms and seat backs configured abreast on the supporting beam. The vehicle seat thus represents a seating bench as employed as a rule in aircraft.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a vehicle seat, more particularly aircraft seat, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.